NPS PAY UPDATE
Dear NPS/CRC Member
UNISON will consult NPS members later this month on a significant and far reaching pay offer from the National Probation Service. NPS members will be asked to vote on whether they accept, or reject the pay offer.
UNISON’s NPS Committee met yesterday and agreed that UNISON would consult members on the offer without any recommendation as to how NPS members should vote. Instead, we will point out the pros and cons of the offer and allow NPS members to weigh these up before making their decision.
We have been set an ambitious timetable for the consultation by the NPS, which would like to implement the pay offer in November, subject, of course, to a majority members of the three Probation unions voting to accept it. To this end, we anticipate that our ballot will open on 18 October and will close on 8 November. It will be a fully postal ballot with voting papers sent direct to members’ home addresses with a pre-paid envelope for the return of completed voting papers by the closing date. NPS members can visit www.unison.org.uk/my-unison, or call UNISON direct on 0800 0 857 857, to make sure that your contact details for the ballot are up to date.
We appreciate that information about the offer will be of great interest to members working for the CRCs. UNISON’s policy is to maintain a broadly comparable pay and grading system across the NPS and the CRCs, so, if the NPS pay offer is accepted by NPS members, we will want to deliver comparable benefits for our CRC members. UNISON’s aim is to see the Probation Service reunited, so we do not want to see big differences in pay and conditions across the NPS/CRC split.
NPS staff who are not in a trade union will not get a vote on the pay offer. Non union members are therefore encouraged to join UNISON now so that they can take part in this important vote. Non-members can join by calling 0800 171 2193, or by visiting www.joinunison.org
More information on the offer and the consultation process will follow.
Ben Priestley
National Officer
Local Government , Police and Justice
UNISON Centre
130 Euston Road
London
NW1 2AY